Wheel of Fortune

American television game show

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“Jeopardy!”

  • This is Jeopardy!
    In Jeopardy!

    …Griffin, who would also create Wheel of Fortune. Griffin wanted to launch a game show but found that networks were hesitant after the 1950s quiz show scandals. He landed on the idea of Jeopardy! during a conversation with his wife when she asked him, “Why don’t you give [the contestants]…

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quiz shows

  • University Challenge
    In quiz: A history of quizzing

    …with other games, such as Wheel of Fortune. Like that show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? took a gradual jackpot-increase approach. The U.K.’s Family Fortunes, which was derived from the U.S.’s Family Feud of the 1970s and ’80s, had contestants (members of two families) guess what answers had been…

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Sajak

U.S. television history

  • Milton Berle
    In Television in the United States: The return of the game show

    …away, and shows such as Wheel of Fortune (NBC, 1975–89; syndication, 1983– ) and Jeopardy! (NBC, 1964–75; 1978–79; syndication, 1984– ) were among the best syndicated performers throughout the 1980s and ’90s. Any negative associations left over from the quiz show scandals had dissipated, and, more important, the shows were…

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